bronte2

We live on the Sunshine Coast and the weather deteriorated as the day went on. It was pretty foul and no-one would have wanted to go ashore anyway as it poured all day. It wasn't too bad in the morning but just worse with heavy rain squalls. I didn't see the swell as we stayed inside :) but I think P&O made the call based on the forecast.

As I mentioned, there wouldn't have been any point in going ashore as you wouldn't have been able to do anything.

It's the first rain we have had in months and months and it was most welcome. Unfortunately it arrived on the wrong day for the Passengers on Pacific Pearl :eek:

As others have already outlined, usually another port is substituted or an extra sea day added. Some ports are more prone to misses than others such as Port Stanley in the Falklands, where I think only 1 in 10 ships manage to make the stop. Sadly we weren't able to either last year but perhaps next time :D

On the other hand, we recently did a 51 day cruise from Sydney to Cape Town and not one port missed :) The captain did warn us that Reunion Is was looking dodgy due to high winds and a narrow entrance but luckily the winds dropped so we made it. We really wanted to see Reunion but understood that there are no guarantees when cruising but happily on this occasion we were lucky.

To Cruise Me Crazy - we docked in Ternerife last year in January and it's a beautiful place. I would recommend doing a tour though as the scenery away from the port is breathtaking. We did a tour up through the mountains and were blown away by the views. You will kick yourself later if you don't get out of town :D

We were on a Princess cruise from Sydney to Capetown earlier this year and had no trouble bringing on wine and beer in Australian or Asian ports UNTIL we hit Singapore. My DH had a 6 pack of beer and this was confiscated by Singaporean port authorities who informed us that Princess didn't allow beer to be bought on board.

We received a letter in our cabin that night advising of the policy. BTW we weren't upset as we knew the rules so just shrugged it off but Princess told us they had destroyed the beer :eek: Hmmm

However, lots of others bought wine and beer on without any problems so go figure.

So I guess it boils down to whether or not you get a port official who is more 'officious' than the others.

Doesn't the Australian price include tips (as its not what they/we do) hence the dearer price.

The inclusive tip fares only apply to the Australian based ships such as Sun, Sea and Dawn Princess where the onboard currency is AUD. (Actually, I'm not sure about Sun now as she has been sailing in Asia). On all other Princess ships regardless of whether or not you book from Australia you are charged the daily gratuities to your onboard account.

Most places in Fiji will accept AUD, not sure about USD though. There are plenty of ATMs near the port which are attached to branches of Australian banks should you find you need $Fiji.

If you are going to Pago Pago which is American Samoa, you will find unsurprisingly that they will accept USD. If you are going to Apia instead of Pago Pago it's so long since I've been there, I can't remember what currency is acceptable :eek: but I suspect AUD would be OK.

We haven't been to Jakarta but have been to Lombok twice. The first time I stayed 2 weeks and the second was a 1 day visit on a cruise ship.

To be honest, you won't get the best out of Lombok on a 1 day visit as it's a fascinating place but IMHO, first impressions may not be overly positive.

Tourism is going ahead and there are a number of international resorts but it is nowhere near as developed as Bali.

There are some nice beaches, Kuta being one of them (not to be confused with Kuta beach on Bali :)) and there are resorts here. Sengiggi beach is another resort area with shops etc. There is a nice water palace called Mayura Water Palace which was built for the king in 1774 and traditional Sasak villages are quite interesting.

Go with an open mind and you will enjoy this fascinating island.

We've been there twice but we have travelled away from the port area both times so I'm not really sure but I think there is a beach a shortish distance away. I don't know what it would be like as we just passed through and i really didn't get a good look at it. Hopefully someone else can help.

I hope you enjoy your stay In Ko Samui :)

Hi, We have just booked much the same in Feb.2016 starts in Buenos Airies and ends in Los Angeles 31 days. Should be a wonderful trip, even though we will repeat North of the Panama up to LA. Really looking forward to the Cape Horn and Falkland Islands area.Shouldnt be too cold in that period of the year.

We have done 2 long cruises, both 51 days and both had lots of sea days so we just love long cruises. One of them was from Southampton in the UK around South America in January/February and down around the Falklands, Cape Horn and the Chilean Fjords then across the Pacific to Aus. The weather in that Southern part of South America was really very cold. I can't remember what the temperature was but we donned thick padded jackets with hoods and also wore gloves as well. The weather didn't really warm up until we got near Puerto Montt where it was quite hot.

Make sure you have some really warm clothing as you never know what the weather will be like that far south. It's a wonderful part of the world with jaw dropping scenery but it won't be as much fun if you are freezing :eek:

Now that we have retired :D we prefer the longer cruises now, but each to their own. We have got another 40 something one planned!

How far is it from the ship to chaeweng beach?

It's actually quite a distance. I think it was around 40 minutes from memory. We were there in April this year and took a ship's 'tour' - Chaweng Beach on your own, so in other words it was a minibus there, drop off and then a pick up later. I think the ship was sailing at 2pm so it wasn't a long stop but it was long enough for a swim and a bite to eat at a nice cafe right on the beach front.

We didn't find the beach crowded, in fact it was surprisingly quiet although there is lots of traffic on the road to Chaweng.

Ko Samui is a tender port and as we had such a short stay we thought it best to take the ship's 'tour' to ensure we got picked up in time to get back to the ship.

If anyone could help with more info it would be great. Seems a good balcony cabin midship deck c. I assume the balcony is a normal one and not a metal fronted or obstructed.

 

Only a 3 night cruise but excited.

We moved to C99 for 2 nights when we added a 2 night segment onto our cruise in February 2013. This was prior to Arcadia's dry dock last year. The cabin was fine, the balcony certainly wasn't obstructed and had glass. There were storage bins above the settee so tons of storage. We honestly weren't in it long enough to really critique it :D but never noticed anything negative.

I'm sure you won't have any issues so relax and enjoy!

ok going to be in Bali for the day in October will be on the radiance of the seas. Will they do the visas for us or is it something that we have to organise our selves. thanks for any help :confused:

Every time we have been to Indonesian ports on a cruise, the cruise line has obtained the visa and charged the fee to your onboard account. The last time was in March this year.

In fact, the only two countries where we have had to obtain our own visas were Brazil and India. In all other instances the local immigration authorities have come aboard and processed passports on board.

We have been on Arcadia twice, the first time was 20 days and the second was a 51 day segment of a world cruise.

We think she is a lovely ship and have another long segment booked for next year and we wouldn't be doing that if the ship was as bad as some of the reviews suggest :eek:

We usually prefer smaller ships and most of our cruises have been with another line but we still don't hesitate to sail on Arcadia when the itinerary suits us.

We were also concerned before our first cruise on her in 2011 as there were negative reviews around then but we needn't have worried as it turned out. So don't be put off by negative reviews, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. :)

Other than Deck 7 for a balcony stateroom, which other deck on the Ocean Princess would you choose for a quiet balcony location ?

We love the Ocean and Pacific Princess. We have always had a cabin on deck 7 in the past but for our 51 day cruise on Ocean Princess this year, all the cabins on deck 7 were booked out. We therefore chose 6072 on deck 6 which is several cabins from the aft of the ship and really loved it. It was incredibly quiet as there is virtually no passing traffic but it's still quite close to the aft stairs/elevators.

We wouldn't hesitate to book this cabin again and much prefer the R class ships to the larger ones. On our 51 day cruise the crew were fabulous and seemed really happy - it was a wonderful cruise so I would definitely recommend Ocean Princess.

The only time we have had any noise issues on deck 7 was on our first ever cruise which was on Pacific Princess and we were 'upgraded' from a balcony on deck 6 to one on deck 7 with a connecting door :(. We could definitely hear the conversation of our neighbours. I would definitely avoid any cabin with a connecting door and also one near the laundry which is on deck 7.

I would definitely recommend a balcony towards the aft on either deck 6 or 7.

As other posters have said stinger suits aren't required around the Pacific Islands - at least not anywhere that we have been on cruises.

We have snorkelled at lots of places and all have been around December and January. It pays to wear a rash vest though as it's very easy to get your back badly sunburnt while you are happily floating around.:eek:

The one thing to be careful of is to not stand on the coral as it not only gets destroyed :( but you can also get a coral cut which are very susceptible to getting infected and that would definitely ruin your holiday.

Thoughts on hop on and off and company who offers this. Many thanks.

We took the HOHO bus from the cruise terminal and found them to be fine. We only wanted to go to a specific site so only hopped off once as we have been to Noumea many times before. The bus calls at the major attractions and also stopped at a lookout where we were able to get fabulous views over the port and surrounds. We enjoyed our ride and found the service very comfortable and efficient.

I can't remember the name of the company but they were present at the cruise terminal as this is the first/last stop. If you are on a medium to large ship they are too large to dock at the cruise terminal so instead dock at the industrial port and run shuttles to the cruise terminal. There are several tour operators there and a market upstairs. There is a nice cafe at the rear of the terminal and they will take AUD and I think USD as well. There are also a couple of cafes and shops to the left of the terminal and of course the town is across the road!

Enjoy your stay in Noumea.

I want to go to India but the vast majority of cruises that hit India include Dubai. I think Dubai looks amazing and I'd love to go there but as an American, and a Jewish female to boot I don't feel comfortable. Going to the Middle East is really scary to me. Can you reassure me it's fine?

Don't hesitate - go. We have just been to Mumbai, Muscat in Oman and Dubai among other places on a recent cruise and felt completely safe in all places for the short time we were there.

In Dubai the place is heaving with tourists from all over the world so you will have no concerns as others have already said. We hired a minibus and a driver and he took us all over Dubai and everywhere we went was busy with other tourists.

Dubai is truly amazing and the shopping malls are a sight to behold ;) A trip up to the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa is highly recommended unless you don't like heights! It's best to book the tickets on line before you go though as it's so popular.

IMHO I would rate Dubai as a lot safer than a lot of other tourist destinations.

Traveling from Australia to Europe by air, Dubai is now a major hub and lots of passengers spend a few days there before travelling onwards. The airport is so busy they are building a new one and in a few years it is expected to outrate Heathrow as the busiest in the world.

I hope that you fulfil your wish and jump on a cruise that not only visits India but also includes Dubai. :D

Just adding that the local currency in Fiji is $Fiji not XPF. In Suva, the larger stores will take AUD,USD,NZD but if you wish to buy something from the markets the vendors may prefer $Fiji.

There are lots of ATMs in Suva, most of which belong to branches of the large Australian Banks so it's easy to withdraw local currency should you need it.

Have a great cruise.

We flew with them from Maroochydore to Sydney in March and we had large suitcases as we were travelling for 2 months as well as a carry on each. One of our suitcases was about 1kg over as I saw the read out - I think the other one was as well from memory but nothing was said. The carryons were given the once over but all was well.

I'm not sure how we would have gone though if the cases were say 5kgs over :eek:

We had a connecting door on our first ever cruise. We could hear quite a bit of 'noise' from the cabin next door even though the couple weren't being particularly noisy. That might sound weird but it was drawers closing, talking - just normal day to day stuff. As a result we always make sure we stipulate a cabin with no connecting doors as we could actually hear their conversation an vice versa :eek: TMI.

We have travelled on the same ship (and other ships) in cabins with no connecting door and have had no noise issues whatsoever.

We obviously had a different experience to Team Alpha as we were on a different ship, so it might pay to ask the question in relation to the particular ship you will be sailing on and see if anyone can provide a specific answer.

Hopefully you won't experience any problems.

BTW I hope I don't double post as the computer gremlins have been playing with my laptop:(

I agree that the best place to see Kookaburras would be in a zoo or wildlife park.

We lived in Sydney for 16 years and only saw the occasional Kookaburra so your chances of seeing one in the city area in 3 days is not good. (Thousands of beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets but very few Kookaburras). Obviously there are areas of Sydney where they would be plentiful, but for a visitor to the city this isn't an option.

Where we were living until recently on the Sunshine Coast in Qld, we were feeding a family of 3 Kookaburras so they were guaranteed to turn up almost every evening for a free and easy meal but where we are now we hear them but only see them occasionally.

So the upshot of this essay ;) is if you only have 3 days, I agree with previous posters - a zoo is the best place.:)

Enjoy your cruise and your time in Sydney.

I'm considering taking a 12-day cruise roundtrip from Benoa (Indonesia) to Singapore in March 2015 but my concern is the weather :confused:.

I've never been to Asia but I understand March is still the wet season.

I'm okay with daily rainstorms which start/stop periodically, but I just don't want to spend all in the rain. (no time for poolside sunning, etc.).

Would greatly appreciate anyone's opinions on their experiences in Asia during March. thank you!

 

Cruise stops in Komodo, Bali, Java and Singapore.

We have travelled around the areas you mentioned in March on several occasions and there has been no problem with the weather. We have encountered the odd shower but of course there are no guarantees apart from the fact it will be very hot. As far as I'm concerned, too hot to be lying in the sun :eek: Just make sure you have plenty of sunscreen with you!

We travelled through this area in March this year and I don't recall even seeing a drop of rain.

Unless you get really unlucky and there has been cyclone activity you are unlikely to encounter more than a tropical cloudburst.

Don't worry, go and enjoy yourself. It's a really interesting part of the world and if the ship stops at Semarang in Java don't miss a trip to Borobodur :)

We had zero issues bringing anything on board from Singapore to Dover through Cape Town. Evidently the shortages began in Singapore as they didn't get fully resupplied there and a certain demographic of the previous segment's passengers (you know who you are) consumed quite a bit. ;)

We had no issues bringing wine or beer on board prior to Singapore but my DH bought a couple of local beers in a supermarket in Singapore and when they went through the scanners at the port, they were confiscated and taped up with his name written across the tape. We were told that they would be given back once on board. BTW this was the Singaporean authorities not Princess.

After a couple of days, we went to the Purser's desk to enquire and were told the beer had been destroyed. OK, we knew the rules so no dramas, but the strange thing was we knew lots of others who bought on beer, wine and spirits with no issues in Singapore. In fact, a couple of folk who boarded in Singapore had bottles of spirits in their suitcases so the suitcases were 'confiscated' but after reporting to the 'naughty corner' they were allowed to keep the bottles of spirits. We had a laugh at my DH's beer being confiscated, but were a bit annoyed that the alcohol policy seems to be employed somewhat randomly.

We must haste just been unlucky I guess.:eek:

We live about 20 minutes from Australia Zoo and regularly make the trip to and from Brisbane.

Seeing as Arcadia docks at Fisherman's Island aka Grain Terminal, I think it would be best to take a ship's tour.

While the trip by road takes about and hour if you get a good run, if there is an accident or breakdown this can add a lot of time to your trip. While you would have to be unlucky, it can and does happen and if you are on your way back to the ship a delay is not something you want if you are travelling independently.

It can also depend on the day of the week as well. If you are arriving on a Saturday or Sunday there will be a lot more traffic heading up the highway to the Sunshine Coast beaches in the morning and vice versa in the afternoon.

There is a train that stops near the zoo and the shuttle from the zoo picks up passengers, but you would have to get to a station and I think that would be an expensive option in a taxi.

We docked at the Grain Terminal when on Arcadia in 2013 and it is a long way out of town and a taxi cost us $50 one way to meet up with family at the 'proper' cruise terminal at Portside.

While a trip to Australia Zoo is certainly doable on your own, IMO it would be more relaxing to go on a ship's tour.

We are boarding Arcadia in Southampton and disembarking in Brisbane next year so will be on the same cruise. I would offer to drive you to the zoo on our way home, but that would leave you stranded on the return :eek:

I hope you enjoy your stay in Brisbane whichever you choose to do.

We were on the Sydney to Cape Town segment and stayed for a total of 5 nights in Cape Town.

I don't recall any delays in getting off the ship in Durban either.

The HOHO bus is great and it has two routes, the blue and the red. Both are very worthwhile. As it was such a great day when the ship arrived we headed straight for the bus and got off at the cable car station for the trip to the top of Table Mountain. Wow. Absolutely brilliant. We were very lucky as the mountain is often shrouded in cloud. Highly recommended if the weather is kind.

A couple of days later, we took the alternative route and hopped off at Hout Bay which is just beautiful. We had a great lunch at Mariner's Wharf as Hout Bay is where the fishing fleet is based. On both routes, the bus returns via the coast passing such lovely spots as Camps Bay where you can get off if you choose.

We thought the buses were a wonderful way to see some of the sights and the audio commentary is very interesting as well.

The concierge in our hotel was able to book tickets for us to Robben Is but unfortunately due to the sea conditions the trip was cancelled. The trip to the Cape of Good Hope is well worth it too.

Just be prepared for the weather in Cape Town. The locals joke that you can never tell what it will be like. We had 1 day which was sunny and hot (the day we went up to Table Mountain), the rest of the time was mainly chilly and windy with some occasional showers so make sure you have some warm clothing.

It is frustrating when you can't be sure of the port but sometimes it is out of control of the ship.

In March, we were meant to be boarding at the OPT but the ship arrived a day early due to avoiding cyclone activity around NZ. As the berth at the OPT was occupied our ship had to go to White Bay. We were hoping that the next day she would move to the OPT but it wasn't to be. So those people who were disembarking or continuing on the next segment of the cruise would have had to reorganise arrangements as did those of us who were boarding.

Another time we were meant to dock at the Cruise terminal in Singapore but ended up waaaay out in the boondocks :eek: somewhere in the maze of industrial docks. Buses had to take us to the cruise terminal to collect luggage etc We were not sure of the reason for the change.

There have been other instances too, but I won't bore you with those :D